QUINCY – Aunt Ruth, Uncle Harvey, Marge, Aunt Dorothy – in my family, nearly everyone was a storyteller. The reigning style was boisterous – lots of laughter, declaratives, spirited protestations. I didn't think of it as storytelling, just what we did at holidays and summer lake parties. I suppose some families favor subtle, understated narratives, but it's all for the same good cause: bringing people together, entertaining them, bonding.

It's also a fruitful way of breaking the ice. Take people who don't really know each other, who have moved and are adjusting to new routines and lifestyles. Encourage them to tell stories together – and to really listen.

That's the idea behind a new venture at The River Bay Club in Quincy, where a half dozen people, most but not exclusively residents, gather twice a month for a storytelling group.

"We all have stories," said Judy Mallock, 78, who started the group last June after she and her husband, Mel, moved to the seniors community. "In the group, we share – that's the whole idea. They do tell their wonderful stories and they bring each other closer."

When the couple moved to River Bay, Mary Ann Huber, lifestyle program director, learned Mallock had taken storytelling classes at the Brookline Adult Education program.

"Want to start a group here?" Huber suggested.

Mallock reached into her bag of narrative techniques. A good story, she said, has "a beginning, middle, ending and a topic. You have to tell it with emotion and you can use sound effects." She tapped her foot on the ground, to suggest a knock on the door.

"You can illustrate with sounds, your face – expressions, and use parts of your body, or move around if you can. Of course, some of the people here are in wheelchairs and can't move, but they show emotion."

In the group, she tells her stories, invites members to tell theirs, and guides the flow of talking and listening. If a tale goes on a bit too long, she may look at her watch and say, "Hold on, we have to give the next person a chance and if we have time, we'll come back to you."

Soon, the group will move from personal life stories about family, travel, life in general, and try some fiction.

Isabelle Pauli, whose family came from Italy, enjoyed guest speaker/author Rosalind Cuschera's stories about her own Italian heritage. Doris Johnson amused the group with her rendition of how an Arabic sheik proposed to her in Israel. Dorothy Parks, 89, a retired social worker, recites poetry – a favorite of Mary McDaniel, a former neighbor of the Mallocks who comes in with her husband, Joseph.

A few weeks ago, former Quincy Mayor Joseph LaRaia, and his wife, Louise, a retired nurse at Quincy Medical Center, were guests. LaRaia told tales of his anti-corruption fight in the 1970s as a city councilor and mayor, including the city cemetery scandals.

Page 2 of 2 - Storytellers are a celebrated part of our history, and the South Shore has one of the best, professional Jay O'Callahan in Marshfield.

As communication becomes increasingly fast, digital and fragmented, with people everywhere focused on individual mobile screens, the thought of a congenial group gathering to share their lives through spoken words is encouraging.

Reach Sue Scheible at scheible@ledger.com, 617-786-7044, or The Patriot Ledger, Box 699159, Quincy 02269-9159. Read her Good Age blog on our website. Follow her on Twitter @ sues_ledger. READ MOREGood Age columns.